Chilling 'A Dark Song,' now on DVD and Blu-ray (review)

Her 3-year-old son's murder sends Sophia (Catherine Walker) to the breaking point. She rents a house in rural Wales and hires a hard-to-please occultist (Steve Oram) to connect her with the spirit world. The path is long and arduous. What she'll find when she arrives, after fasting, chanting and sleep deprivation, is a mystery. But her determination is unyielding. First-time writer-director Liam Gavin takes us through a series of forbidden black magic rituals to a truly creepy place. His quietly suspenseful 2016 thriller builds to a mind-blowing finish, transcending the horror genre's usual cheap shocks. Winner of six festival awards. Unrated, 100 minutes. Extras: storyboards, four interviews and eight deleted scenes, including the original ending. From Shout Factory. Released Sept. 5 on DVD and Blu-ray.

My Cousin Rachel

Either Rachel is a manipulative seductress out to steal young Philip's fortune or she's a misunderstood sweetheart being slandered by gossipers. This engrossing 2017 romantic drama may have you changing your mind a number of times. Rachel Weisz in the title role is magnificent as usual, playing a sophisticated widow visiting her late husband's nephew at his coastal estate in 18th century Cornwall. The film is based on Daphne du Maurier's 1951 novel, which was also adapted into a 1952 film starring Richard Burton and Olivia de Havilland. PG-13, 106 minutes. From Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Released Aug. 29 on DVD and Blu-ray.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Following in the footsteps of 2016 Oscar nominee "Hidden Figures" comes this true story about the overlooked accomplishments of yet another African-American. But this HBO biopic is a bit different, due to the passive nature of Henrietta Lacks' enormous contribution to medical science. She wasn't a genius or a crusading pioneer, but doctors discovered as she was dying from cancer in 1951 that her body cells possess an amazing regenerative quality. First used to help develop the polio vaccine, they have been invaluable in gene mapping, the efforts to fight cancer, AIDs and radiation poisoning, and countless other endeavors. Unfortunately, her family was never compensated, and consent was never received. Slowly, the story has come out, including a 2010 book by Rebecca Skloot on which this film is based. It's a difficult tale to dramatize, because of the technical nature of the subject matter. The film focuses on Skloot's uphill battle to gain the trust of Lacks' embittered family, especially her daughter, Deborah, played by Oprah Winfrey. Rose Byrne portrays Skloot as a well-meaning but persistent reporter, out of her element visiting the low-income Lacks family in a rough part of Baltimore. It's only a moderately effective plot device, but it's the best conflict they could find. And it was good enough to earn an Emmy nomination for outstanding TV movie. TV-MA, 90 minutes. From HBO Home Entertainment. Released Sept. 5 on DVD and Blu-ray.

Criminal Minds, season 12

The trend in cop shows these days is to spend as much time on the crime fighters' complicated personal lives as on the challenge of fighting crime. The idea is to hook readers into caring for characters, but the danger is it can get soap opera-ish. This CBS police procedural about FBI profilers has balanced along this fine line for more than a decade, which is a long time for a show with a large ensemble cast. The show's continued ratings success is surprising considering it sometimes feels like a revolving door. Mandy Patinkin left after the first three seasons, Joe Mantegna arrived during the third season, and Paget Brewster departed after the seventh season, only to return full-time in season 12 to lead the team of FBI profilers. Also joining the cast for season 12 are Adam Rodriguez and Damon Gupton. At least Thomas Gibson has stuck around the entire time, but No. 12 is his final season ... at least for now. The 2016-17 season is 22 episodes; 15 hours and 29 minutes. From Paramount. Released Sept. 5 on DVD. Season 13 begins Sept. 27.

Megan Leavey

Kate Mara impresses in the gritty true story of a Marine corporal deployed in Iraq who bonds with her military combat dog. The June release co-stars Edie Falco, Tom Felton and Common. PG-13, 116 minutes. From Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Released Sept.5 on DVD and Blu-ray.

P. King Duckling

A young duck leads his two friends into all kinds of mischief, even though they sort of know better, in this animated children's comedy series on Disney Junior. Don't tell the kids, but the family-oriented Chinese-American joint production is really about problem solving and creative thinking. 14 episodes, 154 minutes. From Shout Factory. Released Sept. 12 on DVD.

Hawaii Five-O, season seven

The original series starring Jack Lord lasted for seven seasons on CBS, so this young upstart reboot still has a ways to go. Alex O'Loughlin stars as Steve McGarrett, the role that Lord made very much his own, but don't get me started. He's the head of a special crime-fighting police task force in Hawaii. The 2016-17 season sees them chasing the chess piece killer, among other bad guys. James Caan's son Scott co-stars. 25 episodes. From Paramount. Released Sept. 5 on DVD. Season eight begins Sept. 29.

The Real Story: Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Steven Spielberg's 1977 science-fiction thriller about outer space visitors is loosely based on actual UFO sightings, including in Michigan in 1966, says this recent episode of the Smithsonian Channel series. 45 minutes. From Smithsonian Channel. Released Sept. 5 on DVD.

Narcos, season two

Elusive Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar comes up with more tricks to evade capture from state police, American agents and rival cartels while maintaining his grip on his billion-dollar cocaine empire in this well-acted Netflix drama series. Wagner Moura stars as Escobar, and Boyd Holbrook is DEA agent Steve Murphy. The 2016 season is 10 episodes, 525 minutes. From Lionsgate. Released Sept. 5 on DVD and Blu-ray.

Also known as "The Bodyguard," this 2016 Chinese revenge thriller written and directed by Yue Song features a lot of classic-style hard-hitting martial arts action and a small dose of high-flying wire work. Unrated, 90 minutes. From Well Go USA Entertainment. Released Sept. 5 on DVD and Blu-ray.

Paw Patrol: The Great Pirate Rescue

Try to visualize puppy dogs operating a pirate ship on the high seas. Very good. Now you are ready to watch this animated children's show on Nickelodeon. Six episodes are corralled onto one DVD. From Paramount. Released Sept. 5.

Endeavour, season four

This "Inspector Morse" prequel also set in Oxford, England, stars Shaun Evans as a young Endeavour Morse starting his career as a detective constable in the 1960s, doing his best to solve murder mysteries. The British production airs as "Masterpiece Mystery" on PBS in the states. The 2017 season is six hours. From PBS Home Video. Released Sept. 5 on DVD and Blu-ray.

Supernatural, season 12

The Winchester brothers battle all sorts of spooky threats in this dark CW series. In the 2016-17 season, they finally come face to face with Lucifer. Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles star. 23 episodes, 969 minutes. From Warner Home Video. Released Sept. 5 on DVD and Blu-ray.